The Bean Boots bit the dust!

I've had these LL Bean pull on boots for years..like 15, maybe 20. They've served me well, but this week the stitching finally gave way & then the glue. Guess these rainy PDX days were just much too much for them. I called Bean about sending them back to fix them, but the woman very nicely told me that with the cost of repairs and also retreads plus shipping would probably almost cost the same as new boots. AND I found out that they don't even make a size 5 anymore. What are the little people gonna do? My sister Charlotte loves this shoe site, Zappos & I scored with neoprene blunnies & a pair of Goretex Solomon trail shoes. And I'm so excited about all these waterproof clothes all of the sudden. My friend Susan warned me that my wardrobe would change & get ugly! No more vintage faux furs...the dampness mats thems. Wearing Heels? Only after you wear your wellies from the car to inside the building. Yeah, not the most exciting times in fashion out here. Not as bad as Portland, Maine...a lot of guys here at least wear Kenneth Cole instead of Bean to work, BUT they all have the same North Face black jacket.
ONLY my hair is making out like a bandit. I have wavy, slightly curly hair that in the VA humidity can grow to look like Roseanne Roseannadanna from SNL of the old days. But here, even with all the rain, doesn't fizz & I have almost straight hair with a few curls around my face. Weird! A friend said that the humidity & dewpoint(?) may be different out here. Who knows, but I'm really liking it!
Also enclosed is a picture of the outside of my apt. Didn't want the sign or too much of the building to show here as this is an open site for all the world to see, but it's not much to see anyway.
Just a renovated 70s apt building ...the inside is what's so great about it-energy efficient, everything's new, great layout. Will post inside pics soon after I hang pictures. Right now they're all on the bar counter - the messy bar counter.
And my pups on the bluff this morn...happy happy dogs!
Off now as the sun is shining! Gotta get outside- beautiful day!!

SNOW!

We had snow yesterday. In & around PDX as they call Portland here, there was tons of snow. More than they've seen in YEARS! Roads on Thursday & Friday were closed around the mountains, but yesterday morn, they closed some roads around downtown.
Yet the skiers & snowboarders were headed to Mt Hood in record numbers...slowly making their way up the mountain. They've never had this much fresh powder & they think the season will be open until April! BUT the when the warmer weather comes there may be flooding, serious flooding!
The dogs loved it...but sadly it turned to freezing rain & another wet dog walk. BUT they're calling for more, so I hope to see snow today.
I plan to do this Komen race in late February-"Stomp the Cure for Breast Cancer". It's up on Mt Hood, it's a 3k in snowshoes! Fun! And a friend & I have a snowboard excursion planned late Feb. as well.
Lastly, the above pictures are actually from the trip going from Wyoming into Utah. But our mountains here look very much the same & these reminded me of the snowfall yesterday morn.

Blue Skies

Ugh, I forgot to post Wednesday as I started work this week. Maybe besides Sunday, I'll just post randomly-ha!

The above pictures are of the glorious blue sky when it appears. The 2 others of houses near me. I will be posting more of these. The details are really great, but looking at my first forays into taking these pictures, well, I was a bit too far away. When the sun shines again, I'll shoot closer.

Well, it was cold with blue skies here the last 2 1/2 weeks and the natives complained.
I thought it was great. Colder here than normal, but no colder than Richmond in winter. And then the rains started midweek. Cold & sleety rain-ugh! It's been mixed until today, but now it's snowing madly! Yea!
The dogs deal with this better than I. Our morning walks have been clear, the eve ones wet...well, this morn , it was a mix of rain & snow. We fortunately have a cover over the door so I can dry the dogs off before going inside, but I'm having to get used to my wet clothes, coats & towels hanging daily in the shower. Also doing laundry almost every other day. The dryer gets the most use.

The weather is funny here. I get up it's clear. Then it rains. Midday, the sun comes out & you'll see these blue skies and then later, more light rain & then clear again. The Oregonians tell me I'll get used to this & will stop carrying an umbrella & probably won't even wear a raincoat anymore. mmm.. I doubt it about the raincoat.

Have been doing some fun things. Went to a fashion show at a museum, going to many microbreweries. You could go to a different one every nite & all the beer is really good! Have to exercise a lot to keep that beer belly at bay!
Exercising or running is tough here in the winter. You've got the rain & lots of times wind. You run on soggy grass, muddy trails, moss covered sidewalks. I run very slowly now.